Plant-based ice cream eliminates lactose

Deanna Rosolen

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Munich, Germany – Consumers who are lactose-intolerant no longer have to opt for other desserts during the hot summer months.

Even vegetarians can enjoy this one.

Researchers at Fraunhofer, an application-oriented research organization, have concocted an alternative to milk-based or animal-protein based ice cream.

This one is made with plant-based ingredients, including proteins from the seeds of the indigenous blue sweet lupin. It’s completely free of lactose, gluten, cholesterol and animal proteins and fats.

The research organization says it had tried several times in the past to create food products from lupins, but was unsuccessful. It was a lupin expert who suggested they try the blue sweet lupin plant.

The secret behind the special flavour, say the researchers, lies in the lupin variety they use, combined with a special production method.

The blue sweet lupin is particularly rich in protein, has a balanced flavour, flourishes when grown in Germany and naturally improves soil quality with its nitrogen-binding roots. The researchers use the high-quality protein from the seeds to make the ice cream.

“The high portion of protein is important for the creamy consistency,” explains Klaus Mueller of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, Germany.

And the cholesterol-regulating effects of the lupin protein make the new ice cream nutritiously valuable at the same time.